8 Tips for Preparing New Hires for Heavy Workloads
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A high workload is one of the main factors associated with turnover according to McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. So what can you do if you know your new employees will be facing high volumes of work?
Here are some tips to help prepare new staff and create an environment that is manageable for employees:
Begin by instilling in your new hires what their overall purpose is. For instance, at Pinnacle, people are our purpose. Everything we do should lead back to providing a positive experience for those with whom we interact.
State the workload simply and clearly. Explain what tasks the new hires are expected to accomplish. Keep your explanations simple and check to make sure they understand.
Establish performance expectations. Let your staff know what the measurement for success is and how it is assessed. If an employee is under performing, address the issue quickly. Under performance can be a sign that an employee needs more training or does not understand their purpose. Additionally, under performance can hurt the overall team dynamics.
Provide ample training. It can be tempting to skimp on training to get staff working as quickly as possible. However, providing thorough training up front can help staff start off their jobs as prepared as possible. The better the training, the more efficient the employee.
Follow up early to see if new hires need additional training. Oftentimes, once an employee begins working, they may have questions or need spot training. By providing this additional training early on, you can minimize confusion and help to establish good habits.
Encourage staff to improve systems. Provide incentives for your staff to find ways to work smarter, not harder. Reduce non-essential tasks from your employees’ workloads. Remind employees to not compromise customer relations in their efforts to work quickly and efficiently. One way staff can work more efficiently is to reduce time spent on tasks that are not directly related to caring for the customer.
Be wary of creating stress-induced programs designed to increase speed. If a job already has a heavy workload, adding competitions or stringent performance requirements can add unnecessary stress to an already stressful job.
Identify ways to increase morale. Find ways to show gratitude and lighten employees’ loads. Encourage your staff to look for teammates who are serving each other, bring in bagels every so often, acknowledge a job well done, ask customers to share positive experiences they have interacting with your staff and share them in team meetings.